Opera-chair



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-het 1.

S. W. PEREGRINE.

OPERA CHAIR.

Patented Apr. '13, 1886.

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s. W. PEREGRINE.

OPERA UHAIR. No. 339,921. Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SEYMOUR \V. PEREGRINE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

OPERA-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 339,921, dated April l3 1886. Application filed September 16, 1885. Serial No. 177,258. (No model.)

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in opera-chairs, church-seats, or hall-seats; and the invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts by means of which the chair is made to fold automatically.

It further consists in the construction and arrangement of devices for providing convenient means for stowing away the hat, coat, and umbrella of the occupant of the seat.

In the drawings which accompany this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective of my improved opera-chair. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section. Fig. 3is a front elevation, partly in section. Fig. 4 is a vertical central section of the chair as it appears when folded. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the coatholder. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the coat-holder detached. Fig. 7 is ahorizontal section through the hinge of the seat. Fig. 8 shows a modified construction of the chair-back specially referred to hereinafter.

The letters of reference in the drawings refer to the following parts:

A A are cast-iron standards which form the legs and sides of the chair. They terminate at the upper end in arm rests B B, and are firmly secured together by means of the socalled foot-board O.

D is the. folding chair-seat, preferably upholstered or perforated as usual for this class of chairs. It is secured to and supported by two brackets, E E, which at their lower ends are pivot-ally secured to the front legs of the chair by the joints F F.

G G are rubber buffers or stops for the seatbrackets to rest against when the seat is folded or unfolded, and make that operation noise less.

H is the back of the chair. It is provided with the ears I, by means of which it is pivotally secured on bosses a to the standards A,

so as to be susceptible of being oscillated on its pivots.

J is a panel formed in the back, and the top and side rails of this panel are provided with lugs a, some of Which are on the front and some on the rear side.

K is a loose piece secured on one of the sides of the panel by screws or bolts. By means of this removable piece, which has a row of lugs, a, the wood frame or perforated back, which fills out the panel, has been inserted so as to be held in position by the lugs.

M M are two arms secured to the sides of the back and projecting downwardly and forwardly under the seat, terminating in slotted ends b, which engage with bosses or wrists N on the seat-brackets. These wrists are a little above the seat-joints and project sufficiently through the slots b in the arms M to form points of resistance for the free ends of the springs O, which press against them. The springs O, which may be of any suitable kind or form, are secured at c in such a manner as to permit of regulating them to a suitable deg'ree of tension to fold the seat back automatically.

In the drawings the springs O are shown as leaf-springs,eaoh secured to a hub, which in turn is secured by a bolt and nut. By providing the standards where the spring goes on with notches and casting the seat of the hub to which the spring is secured rough the tension of the spring may be easily adjusted.

Wherever in the appended claims I refer to the term sliding connection I wish to be understood as meaning a connection between the back and the brackets supporting the seat substantially like that shown and described, wherein the back has a slotted extension and the bracket a projection engaging the slot of said extension; but I do not intend'to limit myself to this precise style of sliding connec tion, as it is evident that the same maybe varied to some extent without departing from the spirit of my invention. Forinstance, the

brackets might be provided with the slot and the extension with the projection.

The brackets E constitute rocking fram to support the seat.

P are two loops at the rear of the standards, They may be cast forming an umbrella-rack.

integrally with the standards or form separate pieces, or they may be provided with hooks at the upper end toslip over the top of the foot-board, and have a screw in the lower end to hold them fast on the foot-board, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. These loops are preferably rounding, and should present no corners or angles to catch ladies dresses.

A device for holding a hat is arranged 'under the seat in the following manner: R is a bracket, made of bent wire in two pieces or otherwise, and secured on the under side of the seat near the rear. S is a spring-clamp secured under the forward edge of the seat, all so arranged as to hold the hat by its rim, as shown. In Figs. 2, 4, 5, and 6 I show a convenient arrangement for hanging up cloaks or coats. It is secured to the back of a chair, and consists of a piece of bent wire,L, formed with eyes or loopsf, which'slip over bosses 9, cast on the sides of the back. By giving the vertical parts of the wire a tendency to spread it will hold itself in place; but, if preferred, a

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cotter-key with a washer may be used to secure the wire to the bosses. The free ends of the'wire act as springs, sothat when the central part is drawn out and a coat or cloak hung over it it will press close to the back. To prevent the wire from lying too close against the back, the sides of the chair are provided with projections h, which give the hand room to slip between and draw out the wire when needed.

In practice the parts are so arranged that the tension of the springs O is sufficient to keep the seat folded back, or, upon rising of the occupant, to fold it back automatically. The back of the seat oscillates while the seat is folding in such manner as to bring it in the most comfortable inclined position for sitting when the seat is folded down, and into a vertical position, so as to clear the aisles as much as possible when the seat is folded back.

Fig. 3 shows one of the standards arranged for putting on the seat next to it, which fastens to the same standard, and to allow the chairs being placed in curved or circular rows thejournals have to be made adjustable in a horizontal plane. This I preferably accomplish by providing the conically-shaped antifriction metal. hubs which I use for such journals with a semi-spherical projection at their seats, and provide the standard with a corresponding socket to fit this shape, or the reverse may be done. One bolt can be made to secure two corresponding journals. The same object may be accomplished by making a ball-andsocket joint between the standards and the conical hubs;

The object of automatically folding the seat is to instantly clear the aisles when the audience rises to its feet after the performance, or in case of fire or other emergency,as it is well understood that in a hurried exit in cases of emergency this obstruction often becomes fatal, while under ordinary circumstances it creates a nuisance.

The arrangement of the hat, coat, and inn-- brella rack provides for the comfort of. the audience and lessens the confusion in seating and rising. I

It is of particular advantage in my operachair that my seat is folded and unfolded by a short, simple, and direct motion, which may be properly termed a rocking motion, as the seat simply rocks into and out of position upon its two hinges without ever crowding the body of the person in the act of folding or unfolding, and, as its weight is always nearly balanced upon the hinges, the spring which closes it automatically need therefore have but little tension, so little, in fact, that the simultaneous folding and unfolding of all the chairs in a large audience does not produce any noise or disturbance. 1 The oscillating of the back is accomplished with very littleforce owing to the great leverage of the arms M M, and all noise therefrom is obviated by making the slots in the arms sufliciently long-to-prevent impact at the ends.

My improvement, so far as it concerns the folding of the seat and back of the chair, may be easily modified within'the spirit of my invention, which contemplates an automaticallyfolding chair. a I

When it is considered that my folding seat operates in a certain sense automatic without the use of a spring, (as a person in rising from this seat naturally must fold or push it back in straightening up within a restricted aisle,) it is obvious that the springs 0 may be arranged to oscillate the back independently of the seat. Such an arrangement (which would require the bosses N to be secured to the free ends of the arms M) would accomplish the objectin view, and would have the further advantage that a person without rising from the seat may clear the aisle back of his chair by simply leaning forward enough to allow the back of the chair to oscillate forward. This advantage would also be retained by the use of two sets of springs, one for the seat and one for the back of the chair.

To give the back a larger degree of oscillation in cases where the aisles have to be very restricted, I prefer the construction shown in Fig. 8, wherein the back of the chair is shown .in front and side elevation, and whereinthe ears I are slotted, while m m are bosses sup:

ported in journals on the standards. It is easy to see that on account of the pivotal supports of the back being so much lower the back in oscillating will tilt forward to a large degree at its upper end, the slotted ears I operating, in connection with the bosses n,merely to form a stop to limit the oscillation of the back.

No claimis made to the hat-rack herein de scribed, nor to the means of securing theback 'panel in place, as the same willform the subject-matter of separate applications.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In an opera-chair, the combination, with the standards, of a seat pivotally secured thereto, an oscillating back having a rigid extension connected to the brackets, supporting said seat by a sliding connection having a pivot, and a spring bearing against the'pivot of said sliding connection, substantially as described.

2. In an opera-chair, the combination, with the standards, of the back pivoted thereto and having slotted extension, 2. seat, and a rocking frame supporting said seat and pivoted to said standards, and provided with a projection engaging the slot in said extension, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In an opera-chair, the combination, with the standards and the back pivoted thereto and provided with slotted extensions, ol'a seat pivoted to said standards and provided with projections engaging the slots in said extensions,and springs secured to aid standards and bearing against the projections on the seat, as set forth.

4. In an operachair, the combination of the standards, brackets E, pivotally secured to said standards, seat D, supported thereby, an oscillating back having sliding con nection with said seat, and a spring secured to the standard and bearing against the pivot of said sliding connection, substantially as described,

5. In an opera-chair, the combination, with the rocking seat having rocking frames E E and bosses NN, ofthe stops G Gand springs O 0, arranged to automatically rock the seat by their tension, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the standards, brackets E E, pivoted to said standards and supporting the seat D, and bosses N on said brackets, of the back pivoted to said standards and having slotted extensions engaging said bosses, substantially as described.

7. The combinatiun, with the standards, brackets E E, pivoted to said standards and supporting the seat D, and bosses N on said brackets, of the back pivoted to said standards and having slotted extensions engaging said bosses, and springs attached to the said standards and bearing against the bosses, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

SEYMOUR W. PEREGRINE.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. GILGER, JOHN H. HARTNETT. 

